The Footie Thread

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Mourinho has virtually blamed Vinicious Jr on the racist abuse he has received in the past. And that Benfica's best player ever was black. I thought he was going to add his best friend is black.

I don't think it was a great idea for Mourinho to speak so soon after the game to be honest. Difficult position when you are sort of built to defend your club and players, emotions are high and you haven't really had a chance to investigate yourself.
 
Yes it did look dodgy.

But nearly every footballer covers their mouth when talking.
It’s a lip reading thing.
But most have nothing to hide.
On the balance of probability, I believe the Argentine did indeed say something pretty disgusting. He wasn't covering his mouth because he didn't want to give away anything tactically. It was a very deliberate action, and Mbappe came out and said he heard it, and explained what it was he said.

I appreciate Junior isn't everyone's cup of tea. I don't particularly like the guy, albeit I'm aware much of my knowledge is third hand as I don't watch La Liga. I'm just aware of things like him not attending Balon D'Or ceremony, and he comes across as a bit of a sulk.

That being said, I've no doubt he probably deals with a huge amount of racism, given he is one of the best players in the world at one of the most high profile clubs in the world. Culturaly I'm not sure what it is like in Spain, but I'm sure he also gets a lot of it when travelling around Europe every season. Was it a good idea to celebrate like he did? No. Then again, we see it so often. Players get abuse all game, and give it back a bit when they score. Often it is a bit of a slap on the wrist, but also people understand why they do it. Maddison or Vardy do it, they are simply cheeky chappies.

I personally believe that there could and maybe should be a rule that if a player covers their mouth to say something nasty to an opponent, then that should be a mark against them if it is alleged they said something unacceptable and deemed racist. A bit like a footballer missing a drugs test. Doesn't mean they took drugs, but you get punished all the same.

P.S. If you are saying that players cover their mouth due to a "lip-reading thing", then they must clearly have something to hide. Otherwise they would not worry about being lip read in the first place??
 
Ah, well that changes things then. The coverage I saw this morning did not mention that.

A big suspension will be on its way then.
On youTube, you get Micah Richards, Henry and Carragher responding to it post match, as various player and manager reactions are coming in. 30-40 minutes long. They then show the Mbappe interview (in Spanish, they translate it), and he explained exactly what happened.

 
Ah, well that changes things then. The coverage I saw this morning did not mention that.

A big suspension will be on its way then.
But will a big suspension be on the way. If it went to the court of arbitration for sport I think they’d struggle to make it stick. Mbappe says he heard it and RM will back their man, rightly so in my opinion. Mbappe says other Benfica players heard it, but if they decide to turn around and say that they heard nothing of the sort and that their man is a good guy and wouldn’t say such things. Who then passes the punishment and can make it stick.

It’s a very messy situation and quite frankly any form of racism is abhorrent, there’s no place for it in sport or the world. But when it comes down to it they can’t factually prove it unless his team mates turn on him and can use the defence that players all cover their mouths when speaking.

Personally I hope he does get done for it and an example gets made of him but I just can’t see it happening.
 
But will a big suspension be on the way. If it went to the court of arbitration for sport I think they’d struggle to make it stick. Mbappe says he heard it and RM will back their man, rightly so in my opinion. Mbappe says other Benfica players heard it, but if they decide to turn around and say that they heard nothing of the sort and that their man is a good guy and wouldn’t say such things. Who then passes the punishment and can make it stick.

It’s a very messy situation and quite frankly any form of racism is abhorrent, there’s no place for it in sport or the world. But when it comes down to it they can’t factually prove it unless his team mates turn on him and can use the defence that players all cover their mouths when speaking.

Personally I hope he does get done for it and an example gets made of him but I just can’t see it happening.
Agree. No evidence unless, as you say, a nearby teammates decides to speak up. They can't punish someone on the say-so of Vinicius and Mbappe.
 
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